he was on the defensive. jimmy carter was attacking him. and then he had this positively brilliant close about are you better off? and he did it so well. peter hart did a bunch of focus groups before and after. clearly reagan had a lower threshold. he had to prove to people he was acceptable. >> that's what mitt -- you're describing mitt romney. you're describing mitt romney because voters -- >> voters don't have the kind of negatives. he did not have 51% of people having an unfavorable view. secondly, you could say mitt romney is as good a debater all you want. gipper against mitt romney when it comes to charm, people saying i want to have this guy on television for four years, it's no contest. >> willie, following up on what mike barnicle said, the one thing mitt romney has going for him is who he is running against. there are a lot of republicans that voted for barack obama that are disappointed. there are a lot of independents that voted for obama who are disappointed. there are a lot of conservatives who don't want to vote for them thi